This is an unfiltered reflection on Persona 5, largely focusing on Royal and the newly introduced character, Kasumi Yoshizawa. There will be heavy plot spoilers for both games throughout. Those interested in experiencing the stories for themselves should do so before reading. This first part will discuss Yoshizawa and her impact on the events that take place from the beginning of Persona 5 to December 25th, which is the end of the base game.
Despite becoming "oversaturated,” Persona 5’s popularity didn’t happen overnight. Its themes, although exaggerated and vulgar at times, reflected on many at the time. Royal both served as an epilogue as well as offering a new perspective. It was this perspective that led me to work on writing this for a month. It was a tough piece to write as it will maybe be a tough one to read at times. That said, I hope you enjoy.
With the release of Persona 3 Reload less than two weeks away, now is a good time to talk about Persona 5 Royal. This was always a game I wanted to discuss as its meteoric rise deserves to be analyzed. It’s a popular series that has arguably saved Sega more than Sonic The Hedgehog in the past decade. So much, so that Sega began this retro IP revival as they now had the facilities to do so. Not bad for a company that was once nearing its brink. Since its 2017 North American release, the Persona 5 franchise has been home to rhythm, action, and tactical-style role-playing games. Atlus had the backing of Sega to promote the game and promote it they did. It became less of a game and more of a sub-franchise.
As a quick recap, Persona 5 centers around the protagonist, Joker, and his band of thieves. The Phantom Thieves, as they were. The game begins in medias res, featuring an explosive run through a casino as teammates are yelling comms in your ear. In the original, this serves as a tutorial-before-the-tutorial, as Joker’s first battles soon follow the swift parkour section. Royal throws the player a curveball by introducing a new Phantom Thief member.
Clad in a fiery flowing ponytail with the grace of a gymnast, it appears that the girl and Joker know of each other. She mentions that they are not of an alliance but they will assist each other. What’s even more intriguing is that no one else knew about the girl aside from Futaba who asks if there was another presence. Almost as if revealing that this girl was a Persona user is meant to be a secret or something. Hint hint.
The girl has access to some high-level spells, although the enemies do not pose nearly a challenge. Eventually, she leaves Joker to his own devices and the rest of the introduction continues as normal. Joker gets caught by the police and is told there is a rat among his ranks. He's forced to sign his real name and for the sake of keeping things consistent, I will alternate between Joker and Ren when identifying the protagonist.
Let’s dial things back a few months ago to when Joker first arrived in Tokyo. Ren is sent to Tokyo on probation after a run-in with a corrupt politician. He stays with Sojiro, a coffee shop owner who only took him in because the police dumped him onto his residence. Ren has seen better days. Even the school and faculty don’t want him around. Nevertheless, school begins the next day and life isn’t going to reform itself.
Obviously, Ren does not get to live a normal peaceful school life as he’s thrust into the Metaverse, meets a talking cat, saves a screaming boy from execution, and discovers he can call upon cool demon powers through the psychology of “ripping” your mask off. Thus the “rebellion” and theme of Persona 5 comes into play. The corrupt politician who put Ren in this situation, to begin with. The disgusting gym teacher who has been abusing his students and running the school like a tyrant. These are two of many examples that Joker and friends go after to “take their hearts.” Righting the wrongs that were caused by wicked people.
Persona 5 Royal includes all-new scenes and hang-out locations, most of which involve Kasumi. While the player met her in the introduction, this will be the first time Ren meets her in the timeline. Kasumi is by all accounts the contrarian to Ren. She’s popular among her peers, athletic, and is on a path to Nationals. Things may not be all sunshine for her, but compared to most in Persona 5, Kasumi seems to be doing quite okay for herself.
In a scene that was in the original yet expanded upon in Royal, Kasumi formally meets Ren on a class trip at a nearby city park. They team up during cleaning time and they become cordial from that day on moving forward. Another important character that Ren shortly meets after arriving at Shujin Academy is the student therapist, Dr. Maruki. Between spending time with Kasumi and Dr. Maruki, the protagonist begins to develop an almost heightened sense of self. He's not alone as the rest of the Phantom Thieves also go through their own sessions with Maruki.
Each of the Phantom Thieves has their own internalized personal chain that is holding them back and the act of setting that chain free comes with “ripping apart the mask.” Kasumi’s awakening is no different. The awakening takes place in the beginning of what will ultimately become the final dungeon in Persona 5 Royal. This is introduced as early as October in the game.
Kasumi runs into a girl who looks just like her yet with her hair let down in a leotard. She stares timidly at Kasumi, saying that she must do something, yet her thoughts trail off, never getting to the point. Eventually, she is struck down, revealing herself to be a Shadow that berates her. Despite her best efforts, she gets a warning that her scholarship integrity is in danger for placing third in a competition instead of first.
The real reason is that there are students and faculty alike who do not like Kasumi for jealous reasons. Kasumi is an introvert who only befriends Ren because he sees her for who she is. He’s the one standing before her after all (Morgana too, but he has a role later). This is enough to naturally push Kasumi, who was already tightly woven together with shoestring in the pouring rain, to snap.
She says arguably the most important line in her entire characterization thus far. “I don’t care what anyone says about me. I will NOT tolerate anyone speaking ill of our dream.” Not her dream. Our dream. Tied this with the girl that stood before her moments before and it’s easy to assume that it’s related to her inner self. The really awesome thing about this scene is that not only is it about her inner self, but it also serves as a hint that there’s still more to the story.
She declares she no longer decides to dance to the tune of others, putting unnecessary pressure on herself, and wearing herself thin overall. This Awakening scene was one of the better ones. I loved the Cendrillon/Cinderella connections about wearing the shoes of “striving for splendor” over “living a life of cinders,” referencing the dance. Ultimately, Kasumi declines the Phantom Thieves offer, wanting to focus more on her gymnastics. She’s a girl with big dreams.
After this, Kasumi doesn’t have much of a role leading up to her big debut in Niijima’s Palace. How she showed up at Niijima’s Palace is pretty clever and it ties well with how resourceful Ren is as a person, including the potential he saw in her beyond her measures.
The Phantom Thieves are trying to get to Sae Niijima, the prosecutor who has been hot on the tail of the Phantom Thieves. If the Phantom Thieves can somehow reform Sae, then they can force her off their backs. The real reason they are after Sae, of course, is to expose Akechi as a mole on the team. The only way to do that is to have Joker get caught on purpose and buy enough time for the plan to hatch. How does Kasumi fit? Simply because of how good-natured of a character she is.
The Phantom Thieves were prime suspects in the death of the Shujin Academy principal, prompting Sae Niijiima to go on the offensive. The actual perp was Akechi, who pinned the crime on the Phantom Thieves. Kasumi is the only one in the school aside from Mishima who knows the real identity of the Phantom Thieves. Out of concern, she asks Ren and Morgana if they will continue being Phantom Thieves. When they confirm, she accepts their answers, leading to the events of Niijima’s palace.
Unfortunately, that’s the most she’d ever worked with the Phantom Thieves while they were active. A sad thought of “what could have been.” Even Kasumi’s social link is abnormally shorter than everyone else’s, with the final social event ending rather abruptly. If the player has been going to therapy and befriended the redhead, they would unlock a bonus chapter. It’s in the next part that I discuss how Yoshizawa begins to bloom.